MANILA CITY — On a hot summer day, Roderico, 50, and Citadel Rivera, 44, roamed the city alleys with their bike, collecting trashed plastic bottles, scrap metals, cartons, and other recyclables. Once the bike sidecar’s full, they return home. They repeat this every day, rain or shine until they have enough to sell to junk shops in Barangay 128 in Tondo, Manila.
This has been the couple’s livelihood for nearly 20 years. Many other family’s breadwinners living in the vicinity share the same livelihood, thanks in part to the community’s thriving recycling facility–a cooperative formed after the massive rotting open landfill that was Smokey Mountain was permanently closed in the 1990s and replaced with public housing for slum dwellers.
Three decades later, resident-waste workers such as the Rivera couple continue to suffer from the health effects of inhaled toxic waste fumes, as well as constant exposure to vehicle emissions and other pollutants that not only cause respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses but also contribute to the scorching climate.
“Sometimes he struggles to breathe because he has asthma. So when he goes scavenging, he experiences difficulty breathing,” Citadel told Manila Today. The couple’s earnings include Roderico’s medication for his chronic respiratory ailment.
The five-year Asia Blue Skies Program, led by international non-governmental organizations Clean Air Asia (CAA) and 3M, in collaboration with the Manila City government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), aims to guide city policies in identifying and addressing air pollution sources through air quality monitoring.
According to CAA, the DENR reported 105 monitoring stations across the country, with 28 in the National Capital Region. However, this figure is lower than the international best practice minimum for population and land area.
Given this, can data from its four-year implementation prompt Manila and national governments to address air pollution as a health hazard, especially since the climate crisis can compound El Niño risks like heat stress?
Air pollution is ‘hyperlocal’
Everlyn Tamayo, CAA’s Air Quality and Climate Change Science Lead, emphasized in her email response to Manila Today the importance of accurate air quality monitoring for achieving the program’s goal: “to deliver science-based air quality solutions for a healthier and more livable Manila City.”
According to Tamayo, “air pollution is very hyperlocal,” as it “can change drastically depending on the distance from pollution sources, weather conditions, etc.”
CCA identified the following as the city’s key air pollution sources: transportation, industrial boilers and generator sets, and household and commercial fuel consumption.
Since 2020, three air quality sensors have been installed in three Manila areas: Rizal Park, Fabella Hospital, and Barangay 128, to measure nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter 10, including its most harmful variant: 2.5, all of which are emitted by vehicles, industrial facilities, and fuel-burning appliances.
Tamayo said these sensors are used to complement the reference monitor of the DENR in Mehan Garden, adding that while “a reference-level instrument is the ‘gold standard’ in air quality monitoring,” air sensors can provide a comparable accuracy level at a more affordable cost, helping fill in data gaps since more units can be deployed to cover more sites.
She claims that the initiative has provided the local government with baseline data, alongside with emissions inventory and health mapping data, for developing the Manila City Clean Air Action Plan, with pollution hotspot Brgy. 128 as the pilot implementing area.
Strides in air quality
Citadel is aware of the air monitoring in her barangay as Manila’s most populous with almost 28,000 residents in 2020. Present industries and businesses range from food and glass manufacturing, cold storage facilities, logistics and transport services, and small enterprises.
Its top pollution sources are burning of copper wires for cash, burning of garbage, and vehicle emissions, according to 258 surveyed residents (ages 35-54) by the CAA in 2021.
In the same survey, forty-five percent of participants stated that during the previous six months, family members had or were exhibiting symptoms or diseases associated with air pollution, such as cough, asthma, itchy eyes, and sore throat. Meanwhile, open burning of waste materials is a violation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or Republic Act 9003. Any violators shall be subjected to criminal proceedings.
“It was around 2008 when I was arrested. Now, I rarely burn or peel copper wires because they would confiscate it in the barangay, ” said another garbage collector Almario Maiso.
Four years since the implementation of air monitoring, Barangay 128 has gone from over 300 in the air quality index which measures how clean or polluted the air is from 0 to 500. This is hazardous for the whole population, to over 50, or moderate, which is unhealthy for an unusually vulnerable population, and less than 50, or good, which means safe for everyone, especially in the last few months.
Efforts involving community engagement, among others, led to the creation of Barangay 128’s 2023 Ecological Solid Waste Management Action Plan, “which defines immediate actions to address the community’s perennial solid waste problem,” including the banning of burning copper wires and identifying alternative livelihood.
The United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) 2024 Global Waste Management Outlook report states that “a circular economy model, where waste generation and economic growth are decoupled by adopting waste avoidance, sustainable business practices, and full waste management, could in fact lead to a full net gain of USD 108.5 billion per year.”
Furthermore, community volunteer and homeowner association president Cathy Vergara said that the CAA has previously appointed ten bantay-kalikasan, or eco-police, in Brgy 128. These eco-police pioneered the Healthy Air Barangay Advocacy Team, which conducts on-site air quality monitoring.
“Eco-police would keep an eye on those who were burning trash and copper. Eco-police have also been deployed around stores and those using grills. They even advised residents to reduce excessive smoke from cooking,” Vergara said.
She stated that last month, the Department of Interior and Local Government held an eco-police training. However, she shared that the ten eco-police is now reduced to three due to budget constraints.
According to her, “the government should also provide more [funding] for air quality monitoring projects to further protect not only our families and communities, but also the world we live in, ensuring a cleaner environment for future generations.”
Health protection is still lacking
Citadel shared that they were able to avail themselves of free medication and check-ups from the barangay health center from time to time.
However, due to her husband’s chronic asthma, which can be triggered and worsened by air pollution, she needed access to free monthly check-ups and medicine. Additional medical missions would also be helpful in their situation.
“Roderico brings his inhaler while scavenging. He uses a nebulizer when he returns home from scavenging,” Citadel said.
Despite Roderico’s health conditions, the couple continue to work to provide for their family. They have four children, three of whom already have their own families while one remains with them and is still studying.
Boundless and worsened by the climate crisis
Available data on pollution sources show that accountability goes beyond the barangay level.
To illustrate, CAA’s PM 2.5 monitoring data from 2020-2022 revealed that the roadside areas, including the port near Brgy. 128, had the highest daily average, at 33.6, indicating a hazardous level.
Elmer Aviso, who is also a breadwinner waste worker, said they’re used to the foul smell because this has been their livelihood from the start.
He traverses the city streets stretching as far as the Rotunda circle in Quezon City, scavenging through mounds of waste to collect items that can be sold for a few pesos.
“Overfatigue, that’s another thing,” 62-year-old Salvador Dela Cruz, who is also a waste worker, said of the effects of being exposed to the harmful elements.
When he feels overheated, he immediately grabs a dipper and pours water over his head. However, he lamented how this remedy isn’t enough anymore.
“Seriously, the heat is just too much. My skin feels like it’s burning,” he complained
According to UNEP and GRID-Geneva, the Philippine weather has warmed year after year, as annual average temperatures have risen over the last 40 years.
That led to a hotter and damper dry season, coinciding with El Niño across Southeast Asia this year. Under these conditions, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the country has been scorched during its two hottest months of the year, with heat index, or how the heat actually feels, reaching dangerous levels exceeding 45 degrees Celsius, causing exhaustion, asthma flare-up and even heat stroke.
Manila has seen record-breaking heat levels on April 27, when the state weather bureau recorded a “blistering 38.8 degrees Celsius,” surpassing “the previous record of 38.6 degrees Celsius set on May 17, 1915, in Port Area.”
A way to bridge gaps
Both UNEP and the World Health Organization have warned against non-traditional air pollutants, which can raise temperatures to dangerous levels in a matter of days to several years for their exponential ability to trap heat in the atmosphere, hence their name: short-lived climate pollutants.
Methane is an example of SLCP, and its sources range from decaying organic waste to industrial facilities. Leaks can cause unhealthy smog. Black carbon, the primary ingredient of PM 2.5, comes from a variety of sources, including the open burning of agricultural waste, coal stoves, and diesel vehicles.
Recent reports show that, in addition to removing carbon emissions, taking action against SLCP, which are non-carbon emissions but far worse greenhouse gases, can help alleviate the suffering of those already affected by air pollution and climate change while preventing further harm.
One of the 15 adopted resolutions at the recently held 6th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), where member states make up the highest decision-making body on global environmental issues, recognized these efforts, alongside “build[ing] and enhanc[ing] national air quality monitoring capacity.”
Reality check
While these are encouraging developments, many countries and cities still lack the infrastructure to implement a fully operational air quality monitoring program. The city government of Manila has yet to fulfill its promise to increase its air sensor tools.
Moreover, the entire city’s reported projected waste production increases to 10,400 tons per day (tpd) in 2025, once again showing the urgent need for waste workers’ protection from their job hazards, which the human-caused climate change exacerbates.
For its most vulnerable residents, such as the Rivera couple, Aviso, and Dela Cruz, this means suffering much longer than necessary.
Those engaged in street sweeping like 61-year-old Arsenia Orola also experience difficulties in breathing and health issues. “We would take a short break after sweeping to remedy such discomfort,” she said.
There are two duties for street sweepers: one in the morning at 4 AM, and another in the afternoon at 3 PM. Arsenia was part of the morning schedule. They spend about an hour or two sweeping.
“Our chairman said that if it’s still hot, we can begin at 4PM; otherwise, we might get high blood pressure,” another street sweeper, Ma. Eleyna Almendras, said.
Eleyna has been a street sweeper for seven years. She is now 61 years old. According to her, their work hours are adjusted to avoid the hottest times of the day, especially given their age.
On a city-wide level, CAA continues to collaborate with Hininga Maynila (Breathe Manila), a task force formed under the program to use air quality data on broader solutions for clean air, such as fleet management, promoting electric vehicle adoption, and enhancing indoor air quality in hospitals.
CAA’s air quality data supports previous report findings, including those from Climate and Clean Air Coalition, that air pollutants frequently share sources with greenhouse gases, indicating that there are multiple contributors that exist within and outside of jurisdictions.
Following the UNEA-6’s emphasis on multilateralism, Mushtaq Memon, UNEP Coordinator of Chemicals and Pollution Action for Asia and the Pacific, reminds that governments don’t need to act alone.
“While each country has unique circumstances to consider, UNEP’s Guide on Ambient Air Quality Legislation [promotes] the Enforcement Decree of the Republic of Korea’s Clean Air Conservation Act as an example of transboundary air quality legislation at the national level,” Memon said.
“This plan should include domestic measures for the prevention of damage caused by long-range transboundary air pollutants, as well as address international cooperation to reduce generation of long-range transported air pollutants,” he added.
For Citadel, government interventions for poverty reduction, healthcare access, and financial assistance can address service gaps for waste workers like them.
Editor’s Note: While acknowledging receipt of our email, neither the Manila City Government nor the Barangay Council have responded to our questions.
